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We all care deeply about protecting the majestic
landscapes of Mount Diablo. That’s why we are asking
for your help today.
Your support makes our land saving work possible. For
the past 38 years Save Mount Diablo and its allies have
increased preserved lands from less than 7,000 acres to
nearly 100,000 acres on and around the mountain. Our
work is far from being finished.
When
most people look at Mount Diablo they assume that the
entire mountain has been preserved
and is part of the State Park – not by a long shot.
The 165 acres outlined in the photo above were still
in private hands until this Spring when Save Mount
Diablo signed the purchase agreement to permanently
protect this parcel: Viera-North Peak. It is one of
three highest elevation and most visible properties in
the county that was still in private hands and has been
one of Save Mount Diablo’s top acquisition priorities
for 38 years. Now, when the state is unable to purchase
land, Save Mount Diablo has stepped up and is raising
the funds to protect this extraordinary property
forever. Even a single house on this property would
have been destructive for wildlife and would have ruined
beautiful views of North Peak.
The acquisition of Viera-North Peak is one example of
the need to save the mountain. We’d like to share with
you a few of the other mountain-saving projects we are
currently involved in:
The
City of Concord approved a
Reuse Plan for the Concord
Naval Weapons Station in January that proposes to set
aside 3,500 acres out of the 5,000 for a regional
preserve – a great
first step on the long road before the final Reuse Plan
will be in place. The
next step is environmental review. SMD just submitted a
40-page letter commenting on the Environmental Impact
Report. Because the land on the Weapons Station is part
of the foothills
of Diablo, we continue the fight to preserve
sensitive habitat areas and
wild life corridors while at the same time endorsing
live-able communities with housing opportunities for all
in areas near public transit.
SMD is involved in many different projects on and around
Mt. Diablo.
In
the early 1990’s we worked with the City of Walnut Creek
to create Lime Ridge Open Space. Just last year, two
new plant species were discovered there. This spring,
cell towers at Lime Ridge’s peak were proposed for
expansion. This project would negatively impact the
area’s habitat which includes a long list of rare
species. We are working with the city to ensure the
protection and restoration of Lime Ridge’s peak and its
wildlife.
Closures of state parks due to the economic woes of the
State were narrowly averted this year in large part
because many people like you wrote their legislators
advocating the parks remain open. However,
maintenance and acquisition budgets have once again been
reduced. Mount Diablo State Park is used for recreation
by over a million visitors a year, most of whom live
within an hour’s drive of the mountain. Park staffing
is severely impacted by the budget cuts. We are
helping Mt. Diablo State Park by donating much needed
safety and maintenance equipment.
For twenty years Save Mount Diablo and its allies have
defended the Tassajara Valley and hills.
These beautiful
grasslands stretch east from Danville and San Ramon,
north of Dublin and Livermore. It is an agricultural
and open space buffer between preserved open spaces in
every direction, linked by Camino Tassajara Road and
Tassajara Creek, with headwaters to the north in Mount
Diablo State Park and Morgan Territory Regional
Preserve. County residents voted to place the Tassajara
Valley outside of the urban growth boundaries in 2006.
Now, a new development plan is being proposed in the
valley. The “New Farm” project is an attempt to break
the urban growth boundaries. If they’re successful,
other development proposals in the valley will follow.
We continue to defend voter-approved urban growth
boundaries.
When Los Vaqueros Reservoir was completed, Contra Costa
Water District was required to permanently protect over
4,000 acres of land with conservation easements to
balance the reservoir’s impacts on endangered species
and other resources. A current proposal to expand the
reservoir would flood hundreds of acres of this
protected land, wipe out recreational trails, and would
destroy a wildlife corridor west of the reservoir.
Water policy is a state wide issue, but Save Mount
Diablo is advocating for protection of thousands of
acres of additional land if this previously protected
land is allowed to be flooded.
Marsh
Creek is an important wildlife corridor in an area that
is almost completely surrounded with preserved land.
This year we finalized the acquisition of Marsh
Creek-IV, a small property with a sublime section of
Marsh Creek. Now that the rains are here, we are
starting a native plant restoration project so
wildlife can once again thrive in and around the creek.
The property connects to Marsh Creek-II, another SMD
property through a large cattle tunnel underneath Marsh
Creek Road. We will soon install fencing to guide
wildlife through the tunnel to the creek instead of
crossing the busy road. We continue to acquire new
parcels along Marsh Creek and restore the creek’s
natural habitat.
These are just some of the projects we are involved in.
Many more come up each year, some requiring only a
little work on our part and some, like the Concord Naval
Weapons Station, requiring multi-year involvement.
Thank you for your continuing support. Together, we
have come a long way and have preserved many spectacular
natural areas right here in our backyard. Yet, threats
of development and deterioration of wildlife corridors
persist and require our constant vigilance. Your
gift will ensure our preservation work continues and
prevent critical lands from slipping away.
 Happy
Holidays,
Ron
Brown
Arthur Bonwell
Executive
Director
Co-founder Save Mount Diablo
P.S. Scott Hein, a member of Save Mount Diablo’s Board
of Directors and an amazing photographer, helps us
create a full color calendar each year that showcases
our projects and the beauty of the mountain. For a
donation of $250 or more, you’ll receive one of these
special, limited edition calendars. |
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